smart.: 200601

Hil D. does a new photoshoot

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- Newfoundland's extreme winter weather is being blamed for what Hilary Duff says is the first cancellation in her pop-music career. The American singer-actress was scheduled to play a sold-out concert Saturday night in St. John's, but promoters announced the cancellation just 10 hours before she was set to take the stage. Wind and high seas delayed a ferry carrying four tractor-trailers full of concert equipment from North Sydney, N.S., to Port aux Basques, N.L. The ferry finally arrived around 2 a.m. Saturday, said Marine Atlantic spokesman Chester Coffin, but poor road conditions forced the trucks to turn around after travelling more than 170 kilometres to Corner Brook. The Port aux Basques ferry terminal is about 900 kilometres from St. John's. "I'm extremely disappointed that we were not able to perform this tour for my fans in Newfoundland," Duff, 18, said in a release Saturday. [Canada]

Elisha Cuthbert and her bloody boyfriend out in LA

Halle's new boy might not be daddy material after all

Halle Berry's new toy boy is accused of being a sex-mad playboy who is already hitting on other women behind the Oscar-winning beauty's back. The former Bond babe has only recently been getting serious with Versace model Gabriel Aubry and is already rumoured to be thinking of having a baby with him. But insiders insist that, behind her back, the 30-year-old hunk still has a clear eye for the ladies. One source warned: "He wants to be famous, and he will use Halle to get there." Any hints of a roving eye would be devastating to Berry whose marriage to musician Eric Benet collapsed painfully because he was a sex addict who kept cheating on her. But a source told a US columnist that Aubry is so popular with the opposite sex "he makes Eric Benet look tame." According to the report, Aubry swung into action in Miami, Florida, while Berry was in LA to help close friend Angela Bassett celebrate her baby shower. According to the insider, Aubry drove his vintage Camaro convertible around Miami and "chased young women" around the clock. The source insisted: "He has a place on the beach and he pretty much chases whatever is around." However, friends of the chiseled model deny the reported flirting. Wilhelmina models co-owner Sean Patterson said: "I was with him this weekend and the craziest thing he did was play a round of golf." Berry and Aubry grew close while filming racy adverts for Versace clothing. They have been growing increasingly serious ever since. [nineMSN]

Brooke Burke and the Burger King are in love.

Ashlee Simpson leaves Radio 1 in London

Costars Amanda Peet and Patrick Wilson in Show People

Britney heads to Will and Grace

Pop star/paparazzi magnet Britney Spears will join the long list of high-profile guest stars on NBC's ``Will & Grace'' later this season. Spears will play a new, conservative Christian sidekick on Jack's (Sean Hayes) talk show in an episode scheduled for April. Spears and the cast are set to tape the episode in February. NBC is billing the platinum-selling singer's guest spot as her ``first prime-time television episodic appearance,'' though that's not exactly true. She appeared as herself in an episode of ``Sabrina, the Teenage Witch'' in 1999 — and, of course, was the star of last summer's unscripted UPN show ``Britney & Kevin: Chaotic.'' As far as we can tell, though, the ``Will & Grace'' episode will be the first time Spears plays someone other than herself in primetime. In the episode, the gay-centric TV network Jack works for, Out TV, is bought by a Christian broadcaster, and Spears' character is brought onto Jack's show to provide the religious point of view. Jack then recruits Will (Eric McCormack) to help his new co-host relax a bit. By appearing on ``Will & Grace,'' Spears will add her name to a roster of guest stars that's included fellow pop icons Cher and Madonna, Oscar winners Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, and many others. The show is in its last season on NBC, with the finale scheduled for May 18. [ Zap2it.com ]

Heath drinks mojitos with lunch

Singer/songwriter DANIEL BEDINGFIELD will be left red-faced the next time he runs into actor HEATH LEDGER after trying to befriend the BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN star during an interview for US men's magazine GQ. In the issue just published, writer ALEX PAPPADEMAS recalls an encounter in a New York cafe between Aussie Ledger and British Bedingfield, who was born and raised in New Zealand. The singer, recognising Ledger, embarked on a little celebrity-to-celebrity chit-chat, not realising the actor had no idea who he was. Pappademas recalls Bedingfield saying, "I've seen your movies and you've seen my album." But polite Ledger still had no clue about his cafe mate's identity. In the published article, Pappademas claims his interviewee leaned across the table after Bedingfield left, and said, "Who was that?" [CM] Thanks to Marapessa @ JJB for pics!

George Clooney is beaming

George Clooney has come a long way from his days as a struggling actor in the 1980s, appearing on such TV series as "The Facts of Life" and forgettable features like "Return to Horror High." This morning, the 44-year-old actor-writer-director received three top Oscar nominations for "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Syriana." He's nominated for best director and, with Grant Heslov, for original screenplay for "Good Night, and Good Luck." The $8-million budgeted black-and-white drama is Clooney's second film as a director. He made his debut with 2003's quirky "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind." "I'm in the enviable position of being able to force studios to make films that they wouldn't ordinarily make," Clooney told the Los Angeles Times recently. He financed "Good Night," in which he also appears as CBS producer Fred Friendly, with outside partners. "I got a dollar for writing the script," he told The Times last year. "I had to endorse my check for directing and turn in my acting salary. Grant [Heslov, co-writer, actor and producer] and I each made a buck for doing it." He also convinced Warner Bros. — he took no money upfront — to make the political thriller "Syriana," for which he gained 35 pounds for his role as a veteran CIA operative. Clooney picked up an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for that role. Though many actors have directed themselves to best acting nominations and even wins — including Laurence Olivier for "Hamlet," Warren Beatty for "Reds" and Woody Allen for "Annie Hall" — Clooney is the first performer to be nominated in the directing and acting categories for separate films in the same year. [LaTimes]

Reese in Germany, surprised by Oscar nom

BERLIN (AP) - Reese Witherspoon said Tuesday she was surprised and excited by her nomination for a best actress Oscar. "I was completely surprised," she told reporters in Berlin, where she was promoting the Johnny Cash biography "Walk the Line." "I was sleeping _ they had to wake me up," she said. "I was very jet-lagged." Joaquin Phoenix also won a best actor nomination for the film. Witherspoon, who said the movie was "a really good journey for me as an actor," will be competing for an award with Judi Dench, Felicity Huffman, Keira Knightley and Charlize Theron. "I am very excited," Witherspoon said. "It feels very good."

Kate Moss goes in for questioning

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Supermodel Kate Moss has been questioned by police in Britain over allegations she took cocaine in a London recording studio last year, according to news reports Tuesday. The 32-year-old had left the country shortly after the Daily Mirror published photographs in September of her apparently snorting cocaine in a studio where her then-boyfriend, musician Pete Doherty, was recording with his group Babyshambles. Since then, the model has been in the United States, where she attended a drug rehabilitation clinic, and in France. The Metropolitan Police did not identify Moss by name but said a 32-year-old woman "has voluntarily attended a London police office in relation to a Met investigation into allegations of possible drug abuse, as reported in newspaper reports." The force said the woman had not been arrested.